1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bus assembly for low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers and, more specifically, a bus assembly structured to allow circuit breakers that are traditionally mounted in a vertical orientation to be mounted in a horizontal orientation.
2. Background Information
Electrical power distribution centers typically utilize a plurality of low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers. Generally, the low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers have a non-conductive housing enclosing one or more sets of seperable contacts. The circuit breaker housing has a front side, with a control mechanism, a top side, a bottom side, two lateral sides, and a back side with, one or more pairs of line and load terminals extending therefrom. The line and load terminals are in electrical communication with the separable contacts. While a low voltage power switch gear circuit breaker may be used in any orientation, low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers traditionally have aligned terminals with each line terminal being disposed above the associated load terminal. Thus, the low voltage power switch gear circuit breaker is said to have a “top” side. Traditionally, the low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers in a power distribution center have been mounted vertically. That is, with one low voltage power switch gear circuit breaker top side being immediately adjacent to the next circuit breaker's bottom side.
Where the circuit breaker is a multi-pole circuit breaker, there is one set of terminals for each pole. Thus, in a three-pole circuit breaker, there are three line terminals and three load terminals, wherein each line terminal is associated with one load terminal. That is, each line terminal is electrically coupled to one of the load terminals through one set of separable contacts. Typically, the three line terminals are horizontally aligned and the three load terminals are horizontally aligned, with the load terminals being disposed below, and vertically aligned with, the associated line terminal.
Electricity was supplied to each low voltage power switch gear circuit breaker by a set of vertical conductors, or “vertical line conductors.” The vertical line conductors, which are horizontally aligned, extended vertically behind a set of circuit breakers in the power distribution center. A bus member coupled each line terminal to a vertical line conductor. The load terminals were also coupled to a bus, however, the load buses extended generally straight, that is horizontally, back from the circuit breakers. If the vertical line conductors were aligned with the line terminals, the load buses included an offset that allowed the load buses to extend around the vertical line conductors. Conversely, if the load buses extended generally straight back from the circuit breakers, the vertical line conductors were disposed to the side of the line terminals and the line buses included an offset.
While the configuration described above is functional, there is a limit as to how many low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers may be disposed in a power distribution center. The number of low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers that may fit in a power distribution center is controlled by the height of the circuit breakers. It is further noted that, generally, a circuit breaker's height is greater than its width. Thus, a greater number of low voltage power switch gear circuit breakers could be disposed in a power distribution center if the circuit breakers could be mounted horizontally rather than vertically. To accomplish this, however, would require a bus assembly structured to couple the load terminals to the vertical line conductors while allowing the load terminals to extend past the vertical line conductors.
There is, therefore, a need for a bus assembly structured to couple a horizontally mounted circuit breaker to a set of vertical line conductors and having a set of horizontally extending load buses.
There is a further need for a bus assembly structured to couple a horizontally mounted circuit breaker to a set of vertical line conductors that is compatible with existing circuit breakers.